Totarapapa Falls is roughly a 2-2.5 hours’ drive away from Rotorua or 4-4.5 hours’ from Napier. We recommend a 4-WD vehicle if you travel from Napier.

Driving from Rotorua: head south on the SH-5, then turn left into the SH38 and follow it for the next 76.5 km. This road becomes a gravel one roughly past Te Whaiti.

Driving from Napier: head north on the SH-2, then turn left into the SH38, a sealed road, which becomes a gravel one for the last 50km. The last 15-20 km is a zigzag road, sometimes one-way one, which runs along the lake's shore. Don’t rely on Google calculations. The road is quite a difficult to be driven on with lots of ‘zigzags’ and unsealed surface.

There is a small car park at the SH38 (no toilets) which is very easy to miss out. Watch for a small sign 'Totarapapa Falls' along the road. Rough idea how to find it: when you drive towards Rotorua, it’s 2km past a bridge over the Whakatane River.

The waterfall is seen from the parking. You can walk to the waterfall’s base (1 minute walk), or cross the road and admit its beauty from a distance.